World Cups: The way they no longer are

07Jul

As an avid fan of football cups in the past (I watched almost all matched in the last Euro and World Cups, not to mention during my childhood when it was a main occupation of us kids in the neighborhood), this time around, I cannot wait for it to be over. Somehow, I am a sucker for underdogs, and none of the underdogs happened to make it. Of course, very often it is about being the better team and having luck, but seriously, the general unfairness we witnessed on a number of occasions made me reluctant to see any more. There is enough injustice in the world, why should I encounter it in sports as well? Plus, honestly, I am not a big fan of either of the teams left (with the risk of being chased with stones by local Dutch people :P).

So, this got me thinking about Cups from the past when there was always this one miraculous underdog, weirdo of a team who made it to the semi-finals. The team of Bulgaria was this underdog in ’94. Now, I was too young to remember much of back then, I just remember the craze on the streets, and people dressed funny and going crazy, I just did not comprehend happiness bordering on insanity.

Anyways, I stumbled across this link, a description of the weirdness of the Bulgarian team from ’94 and it made me miss it — not the Bulgarian team, but it made me miss having a team like this on the current World Cup. And no, I will not watch the team of juvenile, bleach-haired, prima donna of Brazilians, or the Dutch Queen of diving and sticking-out-his-tongue aka Roben. Maybe only the Germans are tolerable, but still far from inspiring. Until then, I am wrapping myself in my cocoon and waiting for it to be over…